Touching
by Becky99
Summary: Commander Koenig and Dr. Russell find themselves lost and imprisoned on a strange alien planet. Circumstances are dire and, over the years, they must decide to either parish or adapt to their surroundings. Is there a way out?
1. Chapter 1

**Touching**

(1)

The planet was smaller than Earth but was reported, through Main Computer, to have rich land, oceans, lakes, seasonal weather, and – as far as Computer could tell – no humanoid life forms.

The Commander took the usual landing party, consisting of Dr. Russell, Maya, Alan Carter, Ed Mims for plant life analysis and two others as surveyors. This one would be close, Alpha having only forty eight hours to do their reconnaissance and instigate an Operation Exodus should an evacuation of Alpha prove to be the right move.

"Use all the typical precautions." Helena urged.

"But be quick." Koenig added.

John and Helena moved off to examine a deserted building, a structure that appeared at one time to be a church or temple. There were pests eaten pews, discolored statues of beings that may have been human, and torn and dusty tapestries along weather beaten walls. The building was dilapidated now but it proved that once human life did exist on the enigmatic planet.

Carefully, Helena examined a writing carved into a wall panel. She saw symbols that might have been animals or insect life. She thought to have Maya take a look later. Maybe it was a language she understood and could explain what happened to these people.

Koenig looked up at the ceiling, at what appeared a one time sophisticated lightening system. "They were not without intelligence." He wondered about the people too and he'd be lying to himself if he did not consider their decimation, even if it was thousands of years in the past, a deterrent to the Alphans possible Exodus.

The unknown always had a way of making him nervous.

"Ecologically, it looks good, John." Tony Verdeschi called from Alpha. They were halfway through there planetary exam, Maya and Mims analyzing the water and Carter with the other two men doing a soil survey. "But I'm getting an odd report. It seems like the planet may not be as deserted as we thought. Doesn't look humanoid but Computer says …"

The connection broke, replaced by a high pitch siren or frantic chirping. "Tony, do you hear me?" Koenig tried but could not get Verdeschi back on the screen. He finally had to shut down his comlock.

Helena stood by Koenig's side and tried her own comlock. She too received nothing but a siren and, annoyed, shut it off. "What do you think, John?" she asked, nervously.

He was about to reply when they heard Maya scream and a shout from what sounded like Alan Carter. Both John and Helena raced out of the building to the creek Maya was working near. They spotted she and Mims running frantically to the Eagle.

They were being chased by a multitude of large insects, thousands of creatures that looked like grasshoppers!

Koenig grasped Helena's hand and pulled her along, "To the Eagle!"

They were nearly there, watching Carter and his crew also running for safety inside their Eagle, when the insane chirping was heard again. It was not through their comlock but seemed to be coming from the planet itself!

And this time it was so loud it caused pain.

Koenig could feel Helena's hand slip from his as she cried out, forced to her knees, her hands over her ears. John was also in agony, grasping for her but collapsing to the ground himself, feeling consciousness ebbing.

The last thing he heard before passing out was the sound of Eagle Two powering up, lifting off, and leaving he and Helena behind.

* * *

 **Continue ...**

* * *

 _This fiction first appeared on the Facebook Page: **Martin Landau Appreciation Group**. It is now here for archiving purposes and your enjoyment. Thank you!_


	2. Chapter 2

**(2)**

John Koenig's eyes opened slowly and he found himself looking up at a dingy sandstone ceiling. He felt padding underneath his back,and a serviceable pillow cradled his head. The cot John was sleeping on was attached to a wall, its legs resting on a polished granite floor. The walls surrounding him were made of the same material as the ceiling.

Carefully, feeling the pain in his head easing, John looked to his left, to the opposite wall, and saw a shower head and a screen covering what he assumed was a toilet.

 _A prison cell_ , he thought.

The room itself was not large but it was not a small closet either. The Commander was grateful for that. Helena hated small spaces. _Where was Helena?_

He saw a door on the third wall and wondered where it led to.

The Commander sat upward, feeling briefly sick. He then looked at the final wall beside him. It consisted of medium spaced but firm steel bars. It was confirmed. He was being held in a prison and Koenig, once again, wondered where they had taken Helena.

He looked down at himself. Someone had changed his clothes. He was now wearing a long, dark pull-over robe with a V neck, tied at the waste with a loose cord.

With a start, John heard a feminine gasp and a short groan. He realized it came from the cell beside his own, "Helena?" he called. The wall separated them and he could not see her, "Helena, can you hear me?"

"John …" she whispered and he recognized that she was groggy, waking up as he had. "Where … where are we?"

"I don't know." He kneeled on the bed, his knees pushed into the pillow. Pressing his face close to the bars he asked, "Are you hurt?"

"No."

John could hear a short squeal and his mind's eye saw her sitting up on her bed as he had.

"I'm a little dizzy. Some nausea."

"I experienced the same thing." He felt a little better knowing she was alive and relatively well. "I wonder how long we've been here."

"You have slept for twenty four hours." a clipped voice answer over a speaker somewhere in the cell.

An intelligent voice, he thought. A glimmer of hope came to Koenig. "I am Commander John Koenig of Moonbase Alpha." He called, "I demand to speak with your leaders."

"You are a worker. You will work, Commander." The voice was direct and laconic.

"As we speak my people are searching for myself and Dr. Russell, the woman in the cell next to mine. We need to return to the moon that has wandered into your space before ..."

"You are now the property of the planet Isa. You will farm. The harvest will be big this year. The woman, with her healing knowledge, will work in our infirmary. You will stay here for the rest of your functional lives."

"No! Please, we want to return to our people!"

Koenig heard Helena call from her cell and added, "Allow us to leave you in peace."

"We will give you until tomorrow morning to recover. You will eat and drink. You will rest. When the sun comes up the doors to your cell, leading outside, will open. You will go through them and work. This is your life now."

"Dammit, we can't do this!" Koenig shouted, "We need to leave now! Our people …"

"Your people escaped us. But you did not. They have tried to return for you but they did not succeed. We kept them away. Your moon is leaving our space even now. It will be gone by tomorrow."

"No …" Helena sobbed from her cell.

"You cannot do this!" Koenig exclaimed, feebly. "We insist …"

"We can. We have. That is all."

Both John and Helena appealed to the being they could not see. But it was sincere when it ended their conversation.

The Commander paced his cell, furious. He checked the walls, the door and the bars. It was impenetrable. There was no way to escape. "Helena." He climbed on the bed and again pressed himself close to the bars, "Do you see any way to escape your cell?"

"None." She said but it was nearly a moan.

Koenig felt hopeless. Slowly, not knowing what more he could do, he reached his hand between the bars and reached over as far as he could, "Helena, do you see my hand?"

"No."

"Check the bars at the head of your bed." There was a pause. Then he felt her fingers touch his own. He could not see her but Helena's touch he knew well. He felt comforted just by knowing she was close and feeling the caress of her fingers touching his own. "We will find a way out of this, Helena." He said, not feeling the conviction he was trying to express.

" _How_ , John?"

He leaned his head against the bars and closed his eyes. "I don't know." John felt her fingers twine with his own and her sob nearly broke his heart.

Helena, intuitive as ever, knew the future. They were not getting off of planet Isa. This really was their home from now on.

* * *

 _ **Continue ...**_


	3. Chapter 3

**(3)**

Their food varied very little. In the morning they received a sweetened oatmeal substance and an odd piece of fruit with a warm milky drink. Koenig always felt energized and a little nervous after consumption so he assumed there must be some kind of stimulant involved.

"Like coffee." He told Helena one evening as they rested in their beds, talking between the cell bars, "But with triple caffeine."

"It helps to keep you energized for working on the land." She replied. "They need to regulate the tonic better. We've had some workers come into the clinic highly agitated, too nervous to do their jobs properly."

 _'_ _They're giving us cocaine.'_ , John thought but he did not say it aloud.

During lunch he normally ate in the field with some of the other workers. Donda, a being John learned had been imprisoned for nearly thirty years, an alien with many arms and dressed in the same robes as all the other land workers, was their food distributor. He came by and brought them heavy bread, cheese, nuts, and sometimes cold meats. Having never seen cattle, Koenig did not wanted to ask where the meat came from.

Donda also brought them a beverage. This one was cold but just as stimulating as the morning brew. It reminded John of beer. The prisoners also had easy access to water. It was a convenience when the days were particularly warm.

If time permitted they played games with the nut shells or whatever else Donda could spare.

By sun down, John would come into his cell exhausted, sweating and grimy. Food, clean towels, and a fresh robe were always delivered just before he arrived. He'd strip off his dirty clothes, shove them into a bag hooked on his cell door, and he would shower.

The Commander would then towel off, slip on the new robe, and take his evening meal with him to bed. This dish would vary but always contained fruit and a vegetable, crops they grew on the land he farmed.

He would call over to Helena and ask her what she was served. She would always reply "Chicken." No matter what was on her plate. It became a treasured joke between them over the months.

They were the only two prisoners or slaves in their small block. They did not question it, satisfied with the privacy and the ability to speak freely with one another. They did not care if their alien overlords heard what they said but, working with the other prisoners, they did not want them listening in – especially when their conversations became intimate.

Every night before they went to sleep, when the lights turned out, they would push their hands between the bars and touch fingers. It had taken on a new meaning, an intimacy nearly as lovely as a kiss.

He would do anything to hold her in his arms again.

* * *

Nearly a year into their capture, Koenig became ill. He had what he thought at first was a cold and flu but the virus eventually became so threatening that an overseer was dispensed to his cell.

Through a fog he could hear Helena cry: "I'm a doctor; a healer. Let me see him. Let me try to help him! We must take him to the infirmary!"

The alien did not answer her but for the first time Koenig saw the creatures who had abducted Helena and himself. Robed in red, he was as tall as John, his eyes large and black, and the hands that reached for John were long, distended, and the fingernails were oddly hooked. He was humanoid but also something else.

The alien placed a palm on John's forehead. "Infection." It said in a raspy voice.

Koenig was too weak to react as he might had he been stronger and more aware. " _Grasshopper."_ He whispered, "Giant … grasshopper." Dazed and a little delirious, that was the only comparable Koenig could think of. The alien produced what looked like a hypodermic needle from inside his cape. He injected something into John's arm.

"Sleep now." it said.

"What have you done?" Helena was crying. John could hear her. Unable to see what was going on Helena was justifiably anxious, "I'm begging you …"

But he passed out before she finished.

When Koenig awoke the following morning he did feel better, although still weak, and he saw his breakfast awaiting him on its tray on the polished floor.

"Eat." A voice said over the speaker. "Rest."

That evening, when Helena returned to her cell, John told her he was better, hoping to ease her mind. He was aware that something was wrong from the sound of her voice, quiet but saturated with emotion. "What is it, Helena?"

"I asked why I was not allowed to care for you – and they told me."

He waited.

"We are not allowed to see each other ever, John. We can talk and they allow us to touch, but they will never consent to …" She broke off, unable to continue.

" _Why_?" he asked, hoping all of these months of service would make a difference, that he and Helena would be allowed time together if he and she proved to be assets to their masters and stayed humble and good despite their urge to strike out and escape.

"Parted, you are worthy." The voice crackled over the speaker, explaining. "Together, you are a threat."

Koenig hated the voice and its intrusion. "After all this time, how can _we_ be a threat? Shall we show you what a threat really is?"

"Commander, you have privilege because you were a leader of men and women. In the eyes of my people you are a captured king. This is why you are treated so much better than our other captives." The voice said, "Do not make the principals sorry they allowed you the concession of having your woman close. They can very easily move Dr. Russell somewhere else."

"No!" Koenig quickly said, hearing Helena gasped in her cell. "Don't do that …"

He felt weak and foolish, attempting to speak courageously for them both. Neither he nor Helena had a leg to stand on. What was he thinking? What would he do if they took her away from him?

It would be five years before Koenig laid eyes on Helena Russell again. Even then, it was by accident - and the two took a chance that could easily destroy them both.

* * *

 _ **Continue ...**_


	4. Chapter 4

**(4)**

A decade later the locusts came and destroyed everything in the fields. It could have been more devastating but the principals advised their overseers what was to happen, what always happened every ten years.

The farm workers were to pick and cut as much food as possible, to work night and day for two weeks in the fields, aided by men, women and children from all areas. They would gathering and store fruits and vegetables - hording as much as possible - or they would all starve in the months to come.

When they were finished, all of the store rooms were filled to capacity.

Just before the attack everyone – hearing a menacing buzz and low level scream in the air about them - slaves, overseers, principals and minions, with their families, were ushered inside their common structure. The sky grew darks and for seven days, with a deafening trilling, the locusts wings beating frantically, and the crunching sounds came from the fields, left over vegetation being devoured.

Koenig recalled asking Donda about a field in the east, how no one was picking from it, and he was advise it was exclusively for their masters, those who came to bless them and receive tribute.

John and Helena, never having been through it before, were frightened. Lying on their beds, alone and pressed to the wall that separated them, their fingers entwined as the attack commenced. They tried to speak above the noise, telling stories, jokes, and singing; anything to get through the ordeal.

Then exhausted, they fell asleep. And John dreamed of a past time …

* * *

 ** _Five Years Before …_**

The poker held by the overseer had an electrical charge. Koenig often saw one or the other prod a worker if they thought he or she had grown slack or rebellious. John had been struck with it twice at the beginning of he and Helena's interment and he studied the device as often as he could, watching as it was used on others.

Koenig pulled large radishes from the ground and suddenly looked up when he heard a scream from a few rows away He ran to him and saw the older man, Jun, was injured in the field, a deep cut from a machete he was using slashed across his inner thigh. He was bleeding badly and John was joined by another prisoner, a three eyed Cus, who ripped a long strip from the bottom of his robe.

John understood when he handed him the strip and lifted the leg. The Commander tied a tourniquet tightly around Jun's thigh, undeterred by the worker's cries of agony.

An overseer approached and quickly surmised the situation, "You two take him to the infirmary then return with a report."

Koenig had not even thought of the possibilities at the time. He was just anxious to get the poor man care.

They took him between themselves and dragged Jun to where they were told. Once inside, a healer took charge and told them to lay the worker on an available bed, where others took over his care.

The alien who aided John told the healers what happened while John, washing his bloodied hands in a sink beside the bed, looked off further into the unit.

 _Helena._

She was talking to a young woman, who was obviously a few hours into labor. She was gently smiling at the girl and although John could hear nothing he sensed the ease. Helena's soft voice was calming and assuring her patient, as she did on Alpha.

Then she turned as saw him. Her eyes widen.

Not thinking clearly, John almost called to her.

Helena quickly shook her head _NO_ then, with those beautiful eyes, indicated where he should casually walk.

He nodded.

"He's stable." The healer told Koenig and the Cus. "You both did a good job. You can go now." The Cus immediately turn around and walked to the exit. He did not wait for Koenig.

John paused and said to the healer, "The heat has baked my brain. I have a headache. Could I get something for it?"

No nonsense, the healer looked him up and down, deciding he was humanoid, and turned to her left. She took a bottle of medication from a cabinet and retrieved a pill, placing it in his hand. "If you require water there is a dispenser over there." She pointed distractedly and went back to work on her other patients.

"Thank you." Koenig turned from her and walked in the exact direction Helena had indicated he should go. He took the pill, drank some water for the benefit of whoever might be watching then he eased over and pushed open a door.

It was a dim room with two beds, possibly a recovery area. It was empty except for one person who approached him from a shadow into better light.

"John!" she cried in hush tones.

Five years … five long years and she was as beautiful as ever.

Helena threw herself into his arms and they kissed madly, sobbing and touching. "John … oh … John … I thought we'd never …"

"Love you … Need you so much …" he murmured between kisses, holding her desperately.

Before either knew what they were doing they were on one of the beds, lying together, gently pulling at each other's robes, all the while whispering and staying in constant contact with one another.

'This is Heaven in Hell.' John thought as they made love.

* * *

 _ **Five Years Later ...**_

They would come to learn this was a tribute, given every ten years to their captor's masters, those who came before, those they served, he creatures that lived on most o the planet … _the locusts._

"Mutations." Helena whispered one night a they lay in their beds, "Our jailers are grasshoppers in human form."

"Have you treated them, Helena?"

"No … they have their own healers. I treat the prisoners, as you know. Those who are not slaves are treated by proven healers that have been here much longer than myself." She tried to make her voice light, "If nothing else, it's an education, so many different alien lifeforms to be cured of injury and illness. After nearly eleven years it still amazes me, John."

"You can treat everyone but me." Koenig said and regretted it immediately.

Helena grew quiet.

It brought back painful memories.

* * *

 _ **Five Years Before ...**_

Tenderly, they helped one another dress as they talked.

"There may be a way, Helena, for us to escape this place."

Again, Helena's eyes widened as she tightened the cord around her waist. Her hands then moved to his shoulders. His entire body was firm, five years of hard labor hardening his shoulder, flattening his belly in what they had called a "six pack" in her youth, and the sun tanning his skin golden, his hair longer and unkempt. John Koenig had always been a handsome man to her but now, after so many years apart, he had the air of a slightly feral god.!

Or perhaps, she mused, it was the love and lust they both just shared together. She was so please this old room, seldom used unless more than a few workers needed undisturbed rest, was available for them.

"There is an easy path from the fields to the inner gate." He said.

"It's electrified, John." She said, "How would …?"

"The overseers have an electronic wand. I think I can short out a small part of the fence with it." He explained his plan, how years of technical studies honed his ability to estimate what could and could-not work under their present circumstances. He had been thinking about this escape for months but could hardly tell her when the aliens were always listening in on their conversations.

John was content when Helena did not question his resolve. She was as anxious as her lover to get out if this place.

But she did add, "John, if we are caught before we clear the fence – We will both be killed."

"No, _I_ will." He said, "I will take full blame and tell them I forced you to come with me."

"They won't believe you."

"I will make them believe me."

She gently smiled and did not bother to tell him she would never let him take the blame alone. If he died so would she. Death would be a release if the rest of her life was to be without him.

He told her to prepare. He hoped to implement his plan within a few days. They kissed once more and she told him he needed to leave quickly. The overseers were probably already missing him in the fields. If questioned Koenig would tell them he laid down, feeling ill, and fell asleep in the unit. If questioned, the healer would confirm she gave him medication.

Fortunately, there was no questioning. John merely left the infirmary and took his place with the other farmers until the sun went down.

* * *

 _ **Continue ...**_


	5. Chapter 5

**(5)**

They sat together in the cell, holding hands, waiting for their fate.

They had cleared the first fence, both of them, the power-prod had done exactly as John expected. It blew out the energy in a ten foot area of fence, just long enough for both of them to slip through an opening.

He and Helena were on their way.

She had excused herself early from the infirmary, piteous and fatigued. Helena was given medication which was never taken and told go back to her cell to relax. After five years in the infirmary Dr. Russell was trusted. She had never done anything to incur the wrath of her superiors and she was well liked by the other healers. Why should they doubt her now?

Koenig was also trusted. He saw Donda who, after many years as a slave and procurer, had an interesting collection of items given to him or thrown out. As an senior among slave he had his choice of "trash" to root through. When John asked him to get a damaged power-prod – just for his own curiosity – Donda was more than happy to help. After all, it was not like Koenig knew how to make it work.

Fortunately, John _did_ know how to make it work and over the weeks, gathering materials under the watchful but unseeing eyes of the overseers, repairs were made. What the Commander could not appropriate Donda found for him, amused that his friend was just as inquisitive as himself.

"It keeps my mind sharp." John told him, regretting the subterfuge. "I like to study these things and see how they work."

When it came time, he and Helena made their move. He signaled her, by touch and the sound of his voice, careful with his words, telling her they would run away before sun down in the middle of the week.

Koenig did not count on the outer fence being so thick and tall. It was also electrified but the prod could not match its strength. John and Helena followed the fence, hoping to find a weak spot but they did not know they were being tracked and observed.

They were taken down near the east fence and, after a fierce but doomed clash, they were brought back to the common building. They were pushed into this cell, in an area of the building neither had ever seen before, and were told to wait.

"Remember what I said, Helena." John whispered while gently squeezing her hand, "The fault is mine alone."

Helena was not able to respond before the cell door was opened. Four red robed aliens entered, one holding a box, and they stood before the seated couple.

"The principals knew this would happen. This is why they said you two should never lay eyes on one another again. It gives you strength and daring. They knew you would try to escape." There was silence for a moment when the leader said: "You will never do such a thing again."

"It was my fault." John quickly said, "She did not want to go. I made her come with me."

"No. She went with you willingly." The lead overseeer said. It was not an accusation. It was a statement. He lifted a hand in warning when Koenig tried to continue. He spoke calmly, "It cannot happen again. Others may try as you did if an example is not made. There must be a penalty."

"What are you going to do?" Helena asked, her voice trembling slightly. "Are you going to eliminate us?"

"No, Doctor. We are not barbarians … but there will be punishment." The alien holding the box opened it and brought out a long, dangerous black whip. "This is primitive but seems to work on dissenters."

The leader said, "The principals have decreed five lashes, representing the annual time you both have spent here as our chattel. One of you will be physically punished to show the others, and all who might follow your example, that although we are often generous and kind, we are also stern and formidable." It then asked, "Who will it be?"

"Me." Koenig stood.

"No." Helena also stood and grasped his arm. She spoke to the overseer, asserting her case. "I work in the infirmary. I can get aid easily for my injuries." She reasoned. Helena then said, "If Commander Koenig needs medical assistance he will be forced to stay in his cell, as he did when he had the bronchial infection and fever. His injuries could become diseased if not treated right away. I cannot allow that to happen." She looked up at John, gazing deeply into his eyes. "It will be me." Helena released John's hand and stepped forward.

"Helena no … NO!" Koenig moved frantically forward but he was detained. Two of the powerful guards held his arms, their distended reach and powerful, curved fingernails causing pain when he lunged.

"It's all right, John. I'm prepared." Helena was calmly taken to wall on the opposite side of the cell. Her robe was removed, her hands clasped in manacles, her back to John and their oppressors.

She cried out only once, with the first deep lash, a yawning red welt marring her soft white flesh. The other four lashes, as vicious as the first, were met on her part in vocal silence. She did not sob or whimper but her body was tense during the ordeal and her legs finally buckled after the final lash.

Koenig however, could not stop his shouts of anger and grief. The woman he loved was being whipped before him, her skin marked and lay raw, her shoulders trembling, and then it was over.

Her wrists were unclasped and Helena fell to her knees, then into a sitting position, her robe lying beside her. She quietly, nearly reflexively, picked it up with shaking hands and slipped it over her head.

"We will take you to the infirmary, Doctor, to treat your wounds. The scarring should be minimal." said the lead overseer. He then looked at Koenig, his black eyes inscrutable. "You may go to her one last time, Commander."

"Don't take her away." Koenig begged, the meaning clear.

"Allow us to be generous. You and she will stay in your same cells, as in the past. You will talk and even touch again if it pleases you. " He paused, "However, you will never see her again. For the day you do … will be the day you both will die."

Koenig went to her, fell on his knees before Helena, and lifted his hands mutely. He wanted to hold her but dared not because of her shredded back and shoulders. He could see the unspoken agony in her expression as hard as she tried to hide it.

He looked at her lovely mouth, her cheeks, nose, forehead, hair … and finally deeply into her remarkable green eyes, the color of sweet fragrant clover and as precious as emeralds. John memorized every line of her face – as she did his – and then he leaned forward and whispered into her ear, "I love you. I am so sorry I brought us to this …"

Even though Helena would tell him again and again over the years that their escape attempt was as necessary for her as it was for him, Koenig would continue to take the blame. The principals had been wise. By harming Helena they had taken the fight out of John Koenig. He would always remember this day, the torture, and he would not ever put her in peril again.

Their lips met in a very gentle and meaningful kiss, the one touch garnering all the grief, love and yearning both had ever experienced. He felt her hand reach up to cup one of his cheeks, brushing a tear away, telling John their love would be ever-lasting, no matter what they were being put through during the years to come.

This moment in time would have to say with them forever.

 _Or so they thought._

* * *

 ** _Continue ..._**


	6. Chapter 6

**(6)**

The years crawled by.

For John Koenig and Helena Russell the event of the locusts came and went for a third time.

But this year there was a change. There was an easy contentment in the air during this cycle. Not the usual anxiety. The prisoners would have fresh food and a purpose this time. There was no fear of running out of provisions simply because one of their brethren had stepped forward and proposes a logical and very sensible solution.

John Koenig accepted the appreciation of the prisoners but he also felt slightly ashamed. Certainly the well-being of them all was paramount, much like it had been on Moonbase Alpha, but for him the proposal and implementation has been selfish. It gave him something to strive for, something else to think about other than his internment, when he and Helena's futures appeared so bleak.

The approaching locusts had come to mean something special to the couple. Thirty years had passed. It was hard to believe they had been enslaved for that long but it was true. A sort of quiet stillness came with the realization.

They were not idle for those years; neither of them.

Initially, especially after the debacle during those early days, when they had tried to escape their enslavement, the couple's lives had been day to day agony.

Koenig had wallowed in depression for a while, working the fields mindlessly, without feeling, never acknowledging those around him.

Laying in his bed at night, knowing Helena was asleep in the cell next to his, unable to feel her warmth, he desperately tried to understand how the fates, that unseen presence in space, could leave he and Helena alone with such a reality.

Was it true they had no destiny? If so, it was unfair.

Commander Koenig had always believed he was on Alpha for a reason. How sad, and perhaps a little devaluing, to find that reason belonged to another. He often wondered what had happened to the Alphans. He and Helena talked about it often. Were they still wandering space? Did they finally find their world? Were there now children?

Early on, while Helena was recovering from her whipping, she was a pillar of strength. Her wounds had been treated with cleansing, a natural ointment, and bandages. Two of the deeper cuts on her back needed to be stitched and the head healer at the time took it onto herself to sew the wounds shut. However, her visible scars were not where she could see them and that detail made it easier for Helena to move on.

She was philosophical about the whole situation, deciding the pain and experience better enabled her to service the beaten and diminished prisoners that came into the infirmary. By this time everyone knew who she was.

John thought she was in denial but also admired her ability to not look back.

Dr. Russell and Commander Koenig's escape attempt had been broadcast to the other slaves during that time and Helena's whipping was made into a severe forewarning. Any prisoner attempting such a thing would get this and worse. They reminded the slaves that she was "royalty" amongst prisoners and even the consort of a "king" was not above the lash.

Perhaps the principals thought their belittling would ostracize the couple from their peers but, interestingly enough, it made the other prisoners respect John and Helena more. They were brave, fighting an unfair enslavement, when others could not face the probability of their own torture and that of their loved ones.

The couple were left alone with their pain for a while but never harassed or challenged.

After a time, while never completely growing comfortable with their situation John and Helena adjusted. They talked with one another as often as they could, telling about their day, the weather, and what new tricks they learned from their various "jobs".

During the second event of the locusts Koenig had been given cards by an aging Donda. He explained how a much beloved game of his people was played and Koenig smiled. It was the same as "Go Fish" on Earth but he allowed the old alien to believe it was exclusive to his own planet.

While the event was going on, the noise and cries loud in their ears for another seven days, while John was thinking about how to better it, he and Helena played cards often. They passed them back and forth between the bars and enjoyed the simple pleasures of their restricted and unconventional life together.

* * *

Between the second and third cycle Koenig asked to speak with the principals. Naturally, the overseers were reluctant but he had developed a good concept and wanted to share it with the aliens in charge. It took months for him to be taken seriously.

The Commander was now in his early seventies, had taken over for the now deceased Donda since he could no longer work the fields as he once did, and while sunshine and exercise had kept John strong of body some felt his mind might be failing him. His long hair, tied to the back of his head, was turning white and his hands shook slightly now. He was a different man than when he was first imprisoned.

Yet, especially to the young who heard the stories about he and his "Lady Helena", he was respected – even by prison principals and overseers.

While rolling a cart past a large out-building, nearly the size of an airplane hangar, John had seen it empty. It was never used except to occasionally house food for pack-creatures who helped some of the farmers in the fields, and it took up a large space better expended for something of use.

He proposed the structure become a hydroponics unit.

Koenig told the leaders that while saving up before events was advisable and had worked for them in the past, the months it took to replant and grow crops after the devastation left all, including the overseers and their families, with rotting and tasteless fruits and vegetables. By the time the first blossom could be seen on a fruit tree or a cuttling from a vegetable plant, most of them were on the verge of famishment.

There had to be a better way.

"If we designate only this structure for inside food growth, fortify it with materials so the locusts cannot penetrate, we will be assured healthy workers and a contented staff for months before harvesting the fields."

The principals were uncertain and had many questions. Koenig answered them all to his best ability. He thanked his time in the hydroponics department of Moonbase Alpha for the know-how during his presentation. Doctor Warren had told him much before his death and Abbot Mcclosky, who took over for he and eventually Dan Mateo when he passed, was also a good teacher. It also helped that, while at university, Koenig dabbled in gardening. He doubted even Helena knew that about him.

As Commander, Koenig had much to worry about but learning from his chiefs in science, medical, technical and hydroponics proved profitable to his eidetic mind.

Helena told him once, in those early days of slavery, that he had a purpose and he tried hard to make her faith in him real. This, the fruition of his food harvesting/hydroponics project, almost made up for those years of wallowing in self-pity. Koenig reminded himself on a daily basis that he was not the only person suffering in the penal colony. There were those far worse off than he and Helena …

But then, he would remember that even during the worst of times those slaves were able to be with their loved ones, to hold them close in their cells, while he could only touch his love's fingers, speaking affection in hushed tones, and wondering if Helena was as thoroughly woeful as himself.

Life would eventually take an odd turn for John Koenig and Helena Russell. It would make both rethink everything they knew about their cruel world and the universe around them …

* * *

 _ **Continue ...**_


	7. Chapter 7

**(7)**

They celebrated his birthday with song,

Helena used her low, pure and throaty voice to convey what she had written. It was a ballad of sorrows past, love in the present, and a bitter-sweet hope for their future. They seldom thought about prospects now. Whatever was to happen would happen.

"That was beautiful, Helena." John's voice tightened with sentiment. The Commander's back was propped up on his pillow, which leaned against the bars at the head of his bed. "When did you have time to write it?" he asked.

"At night while you slept." she whispered. "The overseers allowed me a candle, pen and paper. It was generous of them really." They had remained alone all these years in their small part of the prison. Still, it was late and the darkness demanded quiet. "Did you really like it?"

"I could not have asked for more." he complimented. But yes, there was more, so much more. However, at eighty years of age, unable to fight if he wanted to, the event Koenig desired most was no longer accessible to either he or Helena.

"I'm so glad."

There was a long hesitation as John wavered. "I've never asked you this before, Helena. And this is probably the worst time to question you but …"

"What is it, John?"

"Did they ever …?"

"What?"

"Did they ever offer to send you a man?" he asked her quietly. He did not know why he chose _now_ to probe, when he had all those years in the past to ask Helena the question that had always been heavy on his mind.

Perhaps it had something to do with the two of them closing in on forty years of imprisonment, knowing their time was short in this world.

"At first they did. Many times." She confessed, "They said I was fertile and could produce many good workhands for them … but I refused." She added, "I suppose we should be relieved that the principals did not force us into copulation. I suppose they could have done that or even artificial insemination if they wanted us to reproduce badly enough." When he said nothing she continued, "They have thousands of prisoners. Some are humanoid and others not. I suppose they feel they are getting their money's worth out of us for now."

"Or they _did_." Koenig murmured. "You never wanted a child?"

"Not here. And not if it was to be without the man I loved." She said, trying not to sound too holier than thou. Then, "I know they offered you women. I heard you refuse often but … I never could twist-up the courage to ask you if you …you ever gave in."

John closed his eyes.

"I would understand if you did." She added with a slight shake in her voice. "All those years without release. I know how tough that is on a man."

They brought him five women during their life in the encampment. All were humanoid and lovely, presented to him after he worked hard in the fields and a few times when Helena was working late at the infirmary, assisting in surgery or other medical emergencies.

The last woman brought to him looked like Helena, when they were still on Alpha together, young with blond hair, fair skin and with a delicate beauty that made a man yearn.

And he was tempted … but Koenig refused them all.

The mere thought of Helena anguished should she learned of his disloyalty, after all she had been through for him, did nothing for the Commander's libido. He could hear her voice, as he just heard her moments ago, saying she understood. Yet, feeling the hurt and deep suffering of betrayal, no matter what she tried so desperately to express.

"Never." he said, honestly. "But I took many showers."

A light chuckle came from her bed, "I know."

John could hear the smile in her voice and he felt warmed.

* * *

Morning came and both arose as soon as the sun was upon them through their high windows.

Helena was made chief healer fifteen year ago but another took her place two years ago. Sadly, he was a stern man without her gentle touch but he was very good at what he did. Helena still worked in the infirmary in an advisory capacity and to assist on easier cases. However, her slender hands now trembled too often and, regularly fatigued, she needed rest in the middle of the day.

John, limited but still able to push a cart, loaded up and brought lunch to the field workers. Often, he would watch the men, remembering how he once did the back-breaking labor they were forced to do, and he wondered where all those years had gone. Many of the men and a few of the women farm workers had been born while he and Helena were in their prime.

That was a long time ago now, back when he had been instigating their grand escape, which had never happened.

As he stood, John slipped the now stained and bowed playing cards into the pocket of his dark robe. He thought of them as a good luck charm these days, holding them close during the day – perhaps playing a game with the men during their midday meal - and depositing them on his bedside table before he slept at night. It was one of the few pleasures John Koenig had left.

Suddenly, both heard a loud click. It came from their cell doors.

"What was that?"

John heard Helena ask from her bed.

Carefully, uneasy on his feet, Koenig slowly shuffled over to the cell door. He grasped the bars and the door pulled open a few inches.

He was stunned. "Helena," John spoke nearly breathlessly, "My cell door is unlocked. Check yours."

He could hear her pull then a gasp.

"Open." She echoed.

Both man and woman stood their ground for a moment, unsure what to do next. This had to have meaning but what it was they simply did not know.

Bravely, John Koenig pulled the door far enough open for him to step through. He looked up and down the hall but saw no one there. "Helena …" he whispered, "It seems safe."

He could hear the creek of her own cell door but he did not look in its direction to watch her. He was afraid. Utterly thrown by what was happening. It had little to do with what the Isa principals had in store for them but, oddly enough, what Helena would think of him. She had not seen him for nearly thirty five years and time, he thought, had not been kind.

"John."

He heard her murmur and felt a hand touch his arm. Gently licking his lips, steeling himself, he turned to look at her.

She was still beautiful. Her hair had turned silver and was long, fashioned into am attractive braid that fell over her shoulder. Her face was slightly lined but as clear and unblemished as he remembered. Her eyes were searching, the green emeralds he kept in his mind and thought to die thinking of when eternity claimed him.

Gently, he put both hands on her shoulders. Then a hand slid up to cup her cheek, and with great emotion John spoke her name.

Tears came into Helena's eyes as she looked upon him. His hair was white, his face gently cragged with stress and time, but he was still a handsome man. She lifted fingers to touch his cheek, to caress his temple down to his jaw. "My love." she whispered.

Soon they were holding one another, treasuring the moment, not caring why it was happening but joyful and a little melancholy at the same moment. So much lost time.

"You are released." A voice came from the speaker.

"Released?" Koenig reluctantly looked up away from Helena, "Released from what?" he asked.

"You have served your time and are no longer beneficial to this penal colony. You may leave."

 _Impossible_ , they both thought, looking at one another again.

"But where will we go? What will we do?" Helena asked.

"You will live – out there. Please leave."

A door opened at the end of the hall to their left. They could see steps leading out to what appeared a vaguely familiar stone structure.

"Leave." The voice again intoned.

Again, John and Helena looked at one another. After all these years they were being released. It was more than their fragile minds could completely comprehend. They had thought to die in the prison.

Helena slipped her hand into his and slowly they walked to the opened door. They could hear bird song and what sounded like a rushing river. It was a fresh water creek, the one Maya and Mims had run away from forty years ago to escape the locust attack.

How would they live, an old man and woman, with no supplies or – after all this time – no know-how to manage in the wilderness? Perhaps this was their death sentence; exposure to the elements.

Once more, before stepping foot outside, John and Helena looked at one another. If that was the case at least they were finally together and they would cherish the time they had left and live it to the absolute fullest in each other's company.

They turned one last time, to look down the long hall, to gaze at the cells that had been their home for so long.

John thought he should say something but nothing came to him.

"Let's go." Helena whispered by his side, once again looking up at him affectionately.

* * *

One foot, then another, and something was happening. They felt a new vitality, a jolt to the system that was profound and slightly mind numbing.

"Eagle Two to Commander Koenig! Come in John!"

Alan's voice.

Automatically, he reached for his comlock, "This is Koenig."

"It's like we thought, John. The planet is a bug-crazy world and we need to get out of here before they clog our intake. Alpha is reporting thousands to the east closing in on us fast. If you and Helena don't want to be left behind need to get back here now!"

"We're on our way!"

He grasped Helena's hand and they ran from the temple stairs as if their lives depended on it. It probably did. They saw Eagle Two in the distance and already grasshoppers were jumping on them from unknown locations.

They could hear Eagle Two's engines accelerate as they approached.

"John!" Helena cried as they ran. They could hear a noise, a terrible hazily familiar buzzing or chirping as more and more of the insects invaded. Helena was pulling them from her blond hair as she rain up the ramp, John following closely behind.

Koenig swiped the creatures off the shoulders of his orange jacket and the hatch slammed shut behind them.

"Go Alan, go!" Koenig ordered, throwing himself into the co-pilot's seat as the Eagle lifted off, flew, and headed toward the moon, to Alpha – their home.

* * *

It came back to them slowly.

In the Eagle, Helena sat quietly with Maya by her side. Her mind was a jumble. She remembered her and John exploring the temple and she could have sworn she remembered both of them running to the Eagle once before. It was crazy but the dejavu would not leave her.

Later, John came into the passenger section of the Eagle and he too looked troubled.

"Commander, you will be happy to know we were able to gather a lot of seedlings and minerals to add to our stock." Maya nearly chirped, "We may have approached that planet too early in its evolution to make us a good home but we will benefit from its environment."

"The planet Isa." Helena murmured and looked up at John who met her eyes.

"How do you know that?" Maya asked, curious.

"The name was in the temple John and I were exploring." She said, searching her memory. "It was written on the wall."

"And you were able to read it?"

Helena, shaking herself out of a strange fog said, "Yes, I suppose I did."

John Koenig could only look at her, remembering something. He reached into his coat pocket and brought out a deck of old playing cards.

Wide-eyed, John and Helena once again looked at one another and silently gasped.

* * *

 _ **Continue to EPILOGUE.**_


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Two days later they were sitting in the lounging area of Helena's quarters and they talked about their ordeal.

"It wasn't a dream, John. It happened. I know it did."

They looked at the cards, splayed now, on her white coffee table.

"You're right but I cannot begin to understand how. If we try to explain it to the others they'll think we're crazy or hallucinating."

"I started to tell Maya," Helena said, "But she was giving me such an odd look that I played it off as a story."

Somehow, in the span of ten minutes they had lived forty years as slaves, prisoners to an unjust but strangely efficient cult of extraterrestrial grasshopper people. The notion made them nearly laugh. The aliens around them, some strange and otherworldly and others amply humanoid, had become their friends and workmates.

"Still, Helena … these are just cards." Koenig attempted to rationalize, "Could I have picked them up in the temple and we somehow, maybe from some age old dust or contaminate, inhaled and imagined the whole thing?"

"Together? The same hallucination?"

"It makes more sense than believing we had grown old in a penal colony in the matter of minutes then returned to ourselves later once we were out of the temple."

Helena watched him steadily and nodded from where she sat. "I could _almost_ agree with you except for one thing."

Carefully, she stood and unhooked the belt around her waist. She tossed it and her comlock on the sofa.

 _"Helena?"_

"Wait." She said, as she deliberately pulled the tunic up and off her body. She tossed it too on the sofa and slowly turned around for him to get a good look at her back. It was smooth except for two shell shaped scars, marks he had never seen before.

John approached Helena and gently touched them, recalling. "You had stitches."

"From the whipping." Helena closed her eyes and nodded.

They might never understand what had happened to them, why it was necessary, or why the aliens finally allowed them to leave and return to the lives they once knew, but they would not question it further.

Tenderly, John leaned forward and kissed both scars gently, softly holding Helena by the arms. She turned around to look at him, gazing deeply into his warm blue eyes as they stared at her with an ever-lasting promise.

The universe about them, the strange worlds they visited, would always be inexplicable and mystical. More than once they had been asked to take what they've seen and experienced and learn from it.

Had they learned from this encounter?

In the days, weeks and months to come perhaps they would understand but for now, as a man and woman on Earth's moon, looking and holding one another, knowing what they had in the present, it did not matter.

What did matter was their deep love and devotion to one another. And this night, as they slept together, holding each other close after passionate and reflective love making, it also meant that their existence meant something; as did all of the lives on Alpha.

The moonbase would continue with its courageous Commander John Koenig and compassionate Dr. Helena Russell. The two would be there to guide and help their people along their journey for as long as it took.

John and Helena did have a purpose in outer-space and it was to be on Moonbase Alpha until the fates, mysterious and judgmental, saw otherwise.

The moon continued its journey.

* * *

 **THE END.**

July-August 2015

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